Silverstone 180mm fan. I gots room on the back panel, so why not?
Cut on the scrollsaw.
Ginormous 180mm exhaust fan for the CPU heatsink = awesome. No finger guard = fingertip is a small price to pay for this performance.
As I mentioned, I started laying out all my cabling.
I'm dropping down the cables from the roof of the case. I've got drop downs for my 24 pin, 8 pin, video card, and a front cluster providing power for 5 hard drives, 2 optical drives, and the fan controller.
Thanks, got one coming from performance-pcs. Again, tho, since I've got no small animals or kids, not really worried.
Here's an update.
I've got everything set to just move over my main components. Things have been a little slow as it has been well over 100 here in Chico, and quite hazy due to the local fires, so its been a little bit more of a stay in, hang with the wife, and watch the olympics kind of few days.
Quite proud of the wiring layout. A little closer up:
I've got most of the cables dropping down from the ceiling from the trapezed PSU.
I've bundled with your standard old skool split plastic conduit, but I did paint the conduit with hammered bronze paint.
Everything is tidy with minimal airflow interruption, not that it would be easy to interrupt dual 140mm intakes and 140/180mm exhausts.
I'm particularly pleased with the clean bunding of cables heading from the mobo to the front of the case. Its organized and clean, but has the following cables:
1) Power to 5 hard drives
2) Data to 5 hard drives
3) Power to 3 5.25 bays
4) Data to 2 5.25 bays
5) 2 x USB 3.0
6) e-Sata
7) Audio/mic
8) 4 fan cables
9) Power switch/reset switch/power LED/HDD LED
Also, I threw in a bronze clip to hold all the cables down, which is a mini version of the trapeze brackets that holds the PSU.
Anyways, move my system off the test bench and into its new home.
Its hard to tell if there is enough wiggle room in your psu trapeze from that photo, but if you flipped the angles so they went up instead of down, wouldnt that hold the psu more secure as well as make the thumb screws easier to turn?
Also, i am quite jealous of your shop and your skills.
Hey supertrucker, great observation. Originally, I didn't want to restrict the size of psu I might be using--but since this will be the psu, I have flipped the brackets.
I’m pretty pleased, as I’ve finally moved this case out of the shop, and my wife has seen it completed for the first time. “Is aright. Looks really utilitarian.” (Trust me that's a huge modding compliment).
I think that sums it up a bit. Part of the quick build, so everything is pretty simple. Metal frame (without finish), brackets, and clear plastic paneling. WYSIWYG.
This side view shows the layout well. Got the front cluster of 5.25 bays and hard drive bays. Got the motherboard at the back. PSU is suspended in the sky with drop-down cabling.
Here’s the back: i/o ports. Giant cpu exhaust (180mm fan). Also great for many gpu’s (that don’t exhaust out the pci ports), dedicated 140mm exhaust fan above the pci racks.
Got dual 140mm fan intakes up front. 140mm and 180mm fan exhausts out back.
The drop down cables from the psu don’t interrupt the airflow much as they are really bundled tight and still leave big front to back lanes from the intake to the exhaust fans.
Performance-wise, I lost maybe 1 degree on load temps going from the open benching station.
What I gained is that it is noticeably quieter, plus I can now store stuff on top of the case.
Hard drive rack.
Motherboard side.
Hanging power supply.
I actually had some apprehension about doing this hanging power supply.
From an aesthetic angle--anybody who owns a clear plastic case knows that cabling can be an eyesore, as everything is on display. But actually, this layout allowed me to concentrate spare cable in the area in front of the psu above that brass crossbar. Then everything that drops down goes right to its destination. Bundle it with the conduit and it looks good. Plus using 1” standoffs lets me hide cabling underneath the motherboard.
From an airflow angle, I had some concerns, but by bundling and keeping the airflow lanes clear, it works.
From a functional angle, I was worried that I would have like a nest of vines hanging down and that it would make for a messy install. As opposed to a modern standard case where you have cable routing behind the motherboard tray and all you see of the 24pin connector is a little stub coming thru a mobo tray hole. Turns out this is a super easy install. Once I hung the psu, I just zipped tied extra cable length, so the only thing that drops down is the exact length needed to reach its destination. So when I throw in the motherboard, the plug is already hanging down just a few cm from where it needs to be plugged in. It was a super easy install. Not only that, if I need to access the psu and its close cables, all I have to do is take off the top panel.
Plus I didn’t have time to build subframing to put the psu say underneath the motherboard.
Close up of the front, nice brass and metal details.
And here is the case in its actual spot of use:
Originally, I set out to build this case mostly as a concept and a challenge. The time frame necessitated simple design, which dictated the aesthetics.
But it turns out some simple materials choices (brass brackets and accents) gives it a nice utilitarian steampunkish sort of look.
Plus it’s nice not to have to worry about chipping paint. I might scratch the plastic, but I know I can replace any panel for a few dollars and a few minutes. I treat it like an enclosed benching station.
Many many thanks:
My wife for supporting me especially thru the all day all night all day build.
Everybody at the forums for tuning in.
Parts came from:
mcmaster.com
delviesplastics.com
onlinemetals.com
performance-pcs.com
home depot
lowes
It's beautiful Navig, and unbelievable it only took you a day (plus four hours ) to make it. The brass-colored conduit is a great touch to; it matches the psu hangar, corner brackets and switches very well. Excellent job!
Tonight or tomorrow I'll get this up on our facebook. Our main machine is down for a rebuild right now.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
